This invention relates to soil rippers and particularly to tractor-drawn soil rippers.
Among the prior soil rippers of which I am aware are those which have a ripping attachment pivoted to the rear of a crawler tractor, with hydraulic or pneumatic means for applying a downward force to the tilling elements in an effort to determine their position beneath the soil.
A disadvantage of this arrangement is that the soil is tilled to varying depths as the crawler tractor undulates across a plot of ground.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a soil tiller, particularly for compacted soils and ideally, though not limited, to compacted forest soils, which is attachable to a pulling mechanism such as a crawler tractor and is so constructed that it can be elevated and lowered using the winch line from the tractor, and when lowered, will automatically seek a desired depth in the soil without requiring downward pressure such as by hydraulic or pneumatic means.
A further object of the invention is to provide such an attachment in which the tilling depth can be varied at the will of the user in a simple and effective manner.
Another object is to provide a structure as above recited in which the attachment includes a multiplicity of tiller members, independent supported, wherein the tiller members are self-tripping so that should one encounter an imovable object, it will simply trip out of the way and automatically reassume its tilling depth.
I have discovered that a tilling attachment carrying out the above objects can be produced wherein the attachment, because of its construction, seeks its own depth merely by having a pivoted but otherwise unconnected relationship to the crawler tractor. In order to accomplish this objective, I have determined that the tilling device must have certain dimensions, namely, one in which the distance from the pivot of the hitch to the ground is substantially less than the rearward location of the tilling elements from the pivot and in which the tilling elements are located at a substantially greater distance below the horizontal pull line than the distance from the hitch point to the ground.
I have also discovered that I can vary the tilling depth by incorporating a unique adjusting arrangement.